Africa Great Lakes Democracy Watch

Welcome toAfrica Great Lakes Democracy Watch Blog.Our objective is to promote the institutions of democracy,social justice,Human Rights,Peace, Freedom ofExpression, and Respect to humanity in Rwanda,Uganda,DR Congo, Burundi,Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya,Ethiopia, and Somalia. We strongly believe that Africa will develop if only our presidents stop being rulers of men and become leaders of citizens. We support Breaking the Silence Campaign for DR Congo since we believe the democracy in Rwanda means peace inDRC. Follow this link to learn more about the origin of the war in both Rwanda and DR Congo:http://www.rwandadocumentsproject.net/gsdl/cgi-bin/library

Saturday, January 29, 2011

From NGO NEWS AFRICARwanda’s development and economic growth continued in 2010, but there were numerous violations of civil and political rights, and the government failed to fulfill its professed commitment to democracy. The year was marked by political repression and restrictions on freedom of expression and association in the run-up to the presidential election. In August President Paul Kagame was re-elected with 93.8 percent of the vote in an election in which he faced no meaningful challenge. None of the new opposition parties were able to participate in the elections. Opposition party members, independent journalists, and other government critics were subjected to persistent intimidation and harassment, including arrests, detention, ill-treatment, death threats, and at least two extrajudicial killings. A prominent government opponent in exile narrowly escaped an attempt on his life. Human rights organizations encountered hostility and numerous obstacles to their work.
Trials in the gacaca courts-community-based courts trying cases related to the 1994 genocide-began to wind down, though the deadline for their closure was postponed several times. The imminent completion of the gacaca process opened the way for further justice reforms. However, continuing concerns about fair trials prevented other states, as well as the Tanzania-based International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), from transferring genocide suspects to Rwanda.
The report of the mapping exercise on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights documented grave crimes allegedly committed by the Rwandan army in 1996 and 1997.Attacks on Government Opponents
None of the three new opposition parties were able to nominate candidates in the presidential election. Local authorities prevented the FDU-Inkingi and the Democratic Green Party from registering as parties. Meetings of the PS-Imberakuri were disrupted, sometimes violently, by dissident members and other individuals.
The PS-Imberakuri, registered in 2009, was taken over in March 2010 by dissident members believed to have been manipulated by the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). In late 2009 the Senate summoned the party’s president, Bernard Ntaganda, on accusations of “genocide ideology.” In June the police arrested Ntaganda and raided his house and the party office. The charges against him included endangering national security, inciting ethnic divisions, and organizing demonstrations without authorization. By November he was still in prison awaiting trial.
Victoire Ingabire, president of the FDU-Inkingi, who returned to Rwanda in January after 16 years in exile, was arrested in April on charges of “genocide ideology,” “divisionism,” and collaboration with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group active in eastern DRC and composed in part by individuals who participated in the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Ingabire was released on bail with travel restrictions, but in October was re-arrested following allegations of involvement in forming an armed group. In November she remained in detention awaiting trial.
Members of the three new opposition parties received threats related to their party activities. Several members of the PS-Imberakuri and the FDU-Inkingi were arrested for attempting to hold a demonstration in June. Some were released, but others were arrested in July. Several were ill-treated by police in detention. In July the Green Party’s vice-president, André Kagwa Rwisereka, was found dead, his body mutilated, outside the town of Butare. The circumstances of his death remain unclear.
Peter Erlinder, an American and one of Victoire Ingabire’s defense lawyers, was arrested in May on charges of “genocide denial and minimization,” and “spreading malicious rumors that could endanger national security.” He was released on bail three weeks later. The charges against Erlinder, who is also a defense lawyer at the ICTR, related primarily to articles published in previous years in which he questioned key events surrounding the genocide.
On June 19 Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, a Rwandan general in exile in South Africa since February, was seriously injured in a murder attempt in Johannesburg. Once a close ally of President Kagame and former chief-of-staff of the Rwandan army, Nyamwasa has become an outspoken government critic since early 2010. South African authorities arrested several suspects. Rwanda has requested Nyamwasa’s extradition, alleging he was behind a series of grenade attacks in Kigali earlier in the year.
Deogratias Mushayidi, a former journalist and outspoken government opponent in exile, was arrested in Burundi in March and handed over to Rwandan authorities. In September Mushayidi was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment on three charges: spreading rumors inciting civil disobedience, recruiting an armed group to overthrow the government, and using forged documents. He was also charged with four other offenses, including “genocide ideology” and “divisionism.”
The government continued to use a law on “genocide ideology”-a broad and ill-defined offense-as a tool to silence independent opinion and criticism. In a welcome development, the minister of justice announced that the law was being reviewed.Clampdown on Independent Media
In April the government-affiliated Media High Council suspended the independent newspapers Umuseso and Umuvugizi for six months, then called for their definitive closure, alleging, among other things, that some of their articles threatened national security. The editors of both newspapers fled into exile after receiving threats. Copies of the first edition of The Newsline, an English-language newspaper produced by exiled Umuseso journalists, were seized at the Uganda-Rwanda border in July.
In February Umuseso editor Didas Gasana, former editor Charles Kabonero, and journalist Richard Kayigamba were found guilty of defamation; they received sentences of between six months’ and a year’s imprisonment and were ordered to pay a large fine. In April Umuvugizi editor Jean-Bosco Gasasira was also found guilty of defamation and fined.Umuvugizi journalist Jean-Léonard Rugambage, who had been investigating sensitive cases including the attempted murder of Nyamwasa, was shot dead in June outside his home in Kigali. He had reported being under increased surveillance in the days before his death.
Three journalists with the Umurabyo newspaper were arrested in July in connection with articles published in their newspaper; two remain in detention at this writing, while the other was only held for one day.Obstructions to the Work of Human Rights Organizations
Human rights organizations operated in a difficult and hostile climate. Rwandan human rights groups, weakened by years of intimidation, received threats and were publicly accused by government officials of supporting the government’s overthrow and armed groups linked to the genocide. Civil society itself was divided: organizations close to the government publicly denounced those who were more critical, such as the LDGL and LIPRODHOR, two of the few independent human rights groups left in the country. Under pressure from individuals close to the government, several organizations disowned a joint civil society submission on Rwanda for the Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council.
International nongovernmental organizations, including Human Rights Watch, were repeatedly criticized and discredited by senior government officials and the pro-government media. Immigration authorities cancelled the work visa in March of Human Rights Watch’s senior researcher in Kigali, rejected her second visa application, and forced her to leave the country in April.Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
In December 2009 the parliament took a positive initiative by voting against criminalizing homosexuality. However, continuing negative comments on homosexuality by some public officials and newspapers reinforced the stigma faced by sexual minorities.Gacaca TrialsGacaca courts were due to end their genocide trials in 2010, but the definitive completion of the process was repeatedly delayed. The government is developing mechanisms to handle outstanding genocide cases and to adjudicate alleged miscarriages of justice by gacaca jurisdictions.Gacaca courts have prosecuted around 1.5 million cases with involvement from local communities across the country. The conduct of trials before gacaca courts has been mixed. Some judges delivered fair and objective judgments. Others handed down heavy sentences, including life imprisonment in isolation, on the basis of very little evidence. A number of witnesses and judges proved vulnerable to corruption and outside influence, affecting the outcome of trials and undermining confidence in the courts. Some defense witnesses were afraid to testify for fear of being accused of genocide themselves, and there were numerous allegations that gacaca courts sacrificed the truth to satisfy political interests.Cases Related to the Democratic Republic of Congo
Laurent Nkunda, former leader of the Congolese rebel group the National Congress for the Defense of the People(CNDP), remained illegally detained under house arrest, without charge or trial, since January 2009. Repeated attempts to get his case heard in Rwandan courts were thwarted on the basis of legal technicalities.
There were several arrests, disappearances, and at least one killing of Congolese supporters of Nkunda in Rwanda, including Denis Ntare Semadwinga, who was murdered in June, and Sheikh Iddy Abbasi, who disappeared after being abducted in March.
On October 1 the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published the report of its mapping exercise on the most serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the DRC between March 1993 and June 2003 (see chapter on the DRC). Among other things, the report documents grave crimes allegedly committed by the Rwandan army in 1996 and 1997. While the Congolese government welcomed the report, the Rwandan government rejected it, initially threatening to pull out its peacekeepers from UN missions if the UN published it.Key International Actors
Most Western donors remained broadly supportive of the Rwandan government and few expressed public concern about human rights violations. However, in the pre-election period, and in the face of increasingly critical media coverage of Rwanda in their own countries, some donor governments raised mostly private concerns about political and media restrictions with the Rwandan government. These concerns were also mentioned in the final report of the Commonwealth Observer Group on the presidential election. Relations between Rwanda and the UN came under strain following the publication of the UN mapping report on the DRC.
Source: Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org

Since then, Kinzer has been an incessant advocate for the Kigali regime often at the expense of ignoring even attacking human rights activists, who increasingly worry that the country is looming on a downward spiral.

In fact, I was among those who shot back, wondering whether it was ethical for Kinzer, an American journalist, “to praise an authoritarian regime that is killings its own people.”

The good news is that, Kinzer might be listening, and perhaps even better, is willing to redeem his conscious.

Given that very few individuals dare to criticize Mr. Kagame, Kinzer’s redemption will definitely come at a cost. However, one may very well argue that it is never too late to speak truth. People often err in analysis, what is important (and honestly difficult) is to admit fault.

It is possible that Kinzer, like many others feel duped or betrayed by the Kigali’s regime. In a recent paper, Belgian academic, Filip Reyntjens, discussed how the government of Rwanda has managed to silence the international community, mostly through manipulation. But it is also possible that Kinzer, again like many others, understands that it is time for the country to make the transition, to borrow his words, “from one-man rule toward democracy.”

Kinzer is particularly worried that the Rwandan leader has become a dictator who refuses to tolerate opposing views. He writes, “Guerilla leaders win wars by being paranoid and ruthless. Once they take power, they are expected to abandon those qualities and embrace opposite ones: tolerance, compromise and humility. Almost none manages to do so”. Furthermore, he is concerned by the infractions within the Tutsi elite circles which saw four individuals: Gerald Gahima, Patrick Karegeya, Kayumba Nyamwasa and Theogene Rudasingwa, all members of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, flee into exile for their lives. The four individuals launched attacks against Kagame, describing him as “a callous and reckless leader”.

The aspiration for a more democratic Rwanda would make Kinzer not so different from Ingabire Victoire, the incarcerated leader of the United Forces of Democracy (FDU-Ikingi). Last year, the 42 years old activist and mother, returned from her exile in the Netherlands to campaign for democratic reform in Rwanda. From the onset, she faced constant attacks from the government which eventually imprisoned and barred her from participating in the August presidential elections.

Ingabire is paying a heavy price for opposing an autocratic regime. But even in her tribulations, believing in the power of freedom, she is brave enough to challenge Kagame from inside the country. Yet, the likes of Kinzer still refuse to acknowledge her significance mainly because she is Hutu. Ironically, he seems to be willing to accept the opinion by the leader of the four individuals, christened the “gang of four” by Rwandn government’s media, that, “The Tutsi minority cannot hope to impose their will on the Hutu majority forever”. These are the words that will potentially land Ingabire decades in jail.

In the eyes of the Rwandan people, the majority being Hutu, Kinzer will need to change his attitude towards them. To assume that all Hutu are genocidaires, is to assume that democracy cannot function in Rwanda. Sadly, this is what Kagame wants the rest of the world to believe; for such rhetoric further bolsters his dictatorship. It is important for the international community to know that, with the exception of bad leaders, Rwandans are a peaceful people that deserve the right to pursue a democratic dream.

In December 2008, a very special occurrence happened that led Kagame into scrambling to do major damage control, distract the world at large from the occurrence, while simultaneously salvaging his progressively deteriorating reputation in “the international community.”
What occurrence is that you might ask? It’s none other than the conviction of the top three major suspects in the Rwandan Genocide. You know, the masterminds of the genocide that Kagame supposedly saved everyone from. You know, this:

The three other defendants were convicted of responsibility for particular acts that the Chambers found were committed by members of the Rwandan military. Col. Theoneste Bagsosora and Col. Anatole Nsengiumva were found guilty of war crimes, acts of genocide and crimes against humanity committed by Rwandan troops under their command. Major Aloys Ntabakuze, whose command was limited to the Para-Commando Battalion was held responsible for three incidents out of more than 40 that the Chamber found were not proved. Many of the crimes of which all three were convicted do not appear in the indictments under which they were prosecuted. All three were sentenced to life in prison and have announced plans to appeal.

Yet here is Kagame today desperately scrambling to do major damage control to salvage his growing reputation in the Congo by making shady deals with his former foe, Kabila instead of simply celebrating. Why would the arrest of the three genocide planners and perpetrators cause Kagame to behave in such a manner?And what exactly did he do in the Congo that reeks of desperation and reputation recovery?
It’s not so much that the three were convicted, but what they were not charged with. It turns out that,

judgments in the Military-I trial completely rejected the Prosecution theory of long-term planning and conspiracy to commit genocide by members of the former Rwandan military leadership. All four defendants were found “not guilty” of all counts charging conspiracy to commit genocide, based on the Chambers ruling that their actions prior to April 6, 1994 were based on war-time conditions, not planning to kill civilians or to carry out a genocide against Tutsi Rwandans.

I have bolded, italicized, and underlined that which was found, and which has ripped Kagame from his comfy dictatorial throne in Rwanda and thrown him into the war torn Congo scrambling, where he is desperately trying to influence some positive coverage on his behalf as the cushy world he built around himself with pervasive propaganda slowly but progressively falls to dust and pieces on the ground.
Because if no one planned the genocide, or the people originally believed to have planned the genocide are found innocent of such a plan, then where does that leave Kagame? It leaves him in a pickle I would say,

This raises the more profound question: if there was no conspiracy and no planning to kill ethnic civilians, can the tragedy that engulfed Rwanda properly be called “a genocide” at all? Or, was it closer to a case of civilians being caught up in war-time violence, like the Eastern Front in WWII, rather than the planned behind-the-lines killings in Nazi death camps? The ICTR judgment found the former.
The Court specifically found that the actions of Rwandan military leaders, both before any after the April 6, 1994 assassination of former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarima, were consistent with war-time conditions and the massive chaos brought about by the four-year war of invasion from Uganda by Gen. Paul Kagame’s RPF army, which seized power in July 1994.
Although the Chamber did not specifically mention more recent events, it is worth noting that this is the same government that was named in a UN Security Council commissioned report on December 12, 2008 as having invaded the eastern Congo (with Uganda) in 1996 and again in 1998 and have occupied an area 15-times the size of Rwanda since that time. Similar UN Security Council reports in 2001, 2002 and 2003, make clear that Rwanda and Uganda’s economic rape of the eastern Congo, and the resulting 6 million-plus civilian deaths, have long been an “open secret.”

It’s no secret that in recent times Kagame was having trouble with some of his former supporters, such as Human Rights Watch’s Alison Des Forge, as she sought to hold him accountable for the atrocities he was committing in the Congo. Instead of just.stopping., Kagame BANNED Alison Des Forge from Rwanda. Yeah…he did. Not just for crimes in the Congo, but Human Rights Watch was also demanding that the ICTR start prosecuting the RPF and their involvement in the Rwandan Genocide; an act so radical it took 14 years to accomplish.
So what would happen if the ICTR investigated the RPF and prosecuted them for their involvement in the Genocide? What would the world learn from this? If they saved everyone from Genocide, wouldn’t that mean that they would get minimal prosecution for the supposed “reprisal killings” they carried out? Or is there something more awaiting them?
Well simply put, if Kagame were to be investigated, indicted, and prosecuted, the world would learn that he initiated a major war crime and crime against humanity towards Rwanda; attacking a peaceful country and throwing it into a war. It would also be discovered that during that whole period, Kagame and the RPF committed massacre after massacre, and multiple crimes against humanity. The RPF shot down Rwanda’s former president Habyarimana’s plane, an act believed to have sparked the carnage that occurred in 1994. And remember this carnage was not planned since many were responding to war time conditions and defenses as was found by the ICTR. It would be discovered that Kagame and the RPF chased Rwandan citizens from their country and into the Congo. Kagame and the RPF continued their aggression thereby committing another crime against humanity by attacking the Congo, another peaceful country. It would be discovered that in the RPF’s attempts to exterminate the Refugees, about six million Congolese citizens were caught in the crossfire. (And this list is hardly exhaustive!)
Because it was found that genocide was not planned from inside Rwanda itself, Kagame and the RPF’s insistence that they are after “planners” of the Rwandan genocide by going into the Congo is problematic. In fact it allows Kagame and the RPF to continue committing massacres and killing millions of people with impunity. IF these people did not plan a genocide, and the ICTR prosecutions say they did not, and there was a war initiated and carried out by the RPF against them going on, then what grounds does Kagame have to go after them? Either by removing them or by exterminating them?
True, RPF propaganda is pervasive, and major western media outlets support this propaganda. Which is why many people believe that the FDLR is composed of savage killers who terrorize Congolese citizens. But now, the world must question why these people who fled from a war they were defending themselves against, are now believed to be random and senseless killers for no reason. It does not match. What would lead them to commit massacres against the Congolese people, if they were fleeing from an enemy that ousted them from their homes? They wouldn’t, unless they were blood thirsty murderers who commit murder just to see blood shed. And while Kagame and the RPF would like to you to believe that, it simply is not true.
Kagame can no longer comfortably hold his immunity. Nor can the RPF. It’s becoming increasingly clear that the RPF is responsible for the murders in the Congo, even with the help of western media that insists Kagame is a hero. People still know and see through the painted veils through which he is presented. Kagame’s major lackey, Laurent Nkunda started receiving unprecedented negative media attention, and compounded with everything else that was happening, he needed to be beheaded, figuratively speaking. So, he was arrested. Try as they might, Kagame will have a very difficult time distancing himself from Nkunda.
As his world crumbles, and as the world learns, and increasingly pressure involved parties to hold Kagame and the RPF accountable for their crimes in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, Kagame strikes a very shady deal with Kabila, to once again, oust the FDLR. These are people who are part of the same refugees that Kagame ousted when he invaded Rwanda and killed its president. They desire nothing more than to go back to their own formerly democratic country.
Does it strike anyone in “the international community” as odd that Kagame and the RPF, indicted by two countries, France and Spain, whose top aid was arrest per the said arrest warrants in Germany, is the peace keeping force in the Congo? How does, Rwanda’s 10+,- years occupation in the Congo resulting in 6 million deaths, conveniently blamed on the FDLR who are part of refugees from Rwanda, qualify Rwanda to REMOVE that which they have not managed in 10 years? Does it make sense?
Put all the pieces together and you will see, that Kagame and the RPF, war criminals, genocide perpetrators are attempting to distract the world away from their bloodshed, while simultaneously continuing the same dirty, and criminal bloodshed.
This has got to stop!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Rwanda has agreed to review a number of laws that critics say restrict the media, freedom of expression and political activity. The laws came under questioning this week at the 10th Session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.
In Nairobi, Henry Maina, East Africa executive director of the freedom of expression group Article 19, says, "Within the new Universal Periodic Review, all U.N. member states come under review at least once in four years. So, the first cycle of review is still ongoing, starting in April 2008."Three laws targeted
"One of the laws was the media law, which was enacted in 2009. The second was the criminal defamation provision in the old penal code, because Rwanda has kept the 1968 penal code with a few amendments. The third law is a recent law passed in 2008, which is called the genocide ideology law," he says.
Most critics of the laws, he says, believe they violate "freedom of expression, freedom of opinion and freedom of association."
Article 19 has praised Rwanda for agreeing to review them.
"I think for us it was quite fortunate," he says, "because...in the Rwanda delegation submission before the Human Rights Council, the head of the delegation, the minister of justice, was quite clear that the country has been going through national dialogue processes. And they've agreed that there is need to review those laws so that they conform to international standards and to a democracy that Rwanda would like to be."Wait and see
Maina says it's difficult to set a timeline for Rwanda to review and possibly repeal the laws. Parliament and various ministries will hold hearings and debate the issues.
"It is very clear for us (that) we would want to work with Rwanda through its legislative review process."
Maina says Article 19 will take a close look at how much progress Rwanda has made about six months down the road. "We will then measure them on the actions they've taken after Geneva," he says.

Following a meeting that was held in Brussels (Belgium) on 19 December 2010 , representatives of the Support Committee of FDU-Inkingi, upon authorisation by the said party, held a retreat with representatives of the Rwanda National Congress (RNC) in Switzerland from the 21 to 25 January 2011. The purpose of the retreat was to hold consultations on the nature of the critical problems that confront the Rwanda nation today and exchanging ideas as to how the two organisations can harness their collective resources to find appropriate solution to these problems.

The following persons attended the retreat on behalf of the two organisations:

Following the above mentioned consultations on the above issues, the two organisations agreed as follows:

1.Our vision of the Rwanda that the people of Rwanda deserve is a democratic state, that is governed in accordance with the principles of the rule of law, independence of the judiciary, respect of the inherent dignity of every citizen, equality and non-discrimination and promotion of reconciliation, solidarity and mutual respect amongst all Rwandans. The successive governments that have ruled Rwanda since the 1959 Revolution have proclaimed ,in their official documents and statements their commitment to the above principles and values, but the changes they brought about only resulted in change of the outward form, rather than the nature or character, of government.

2.The current system of Rwanda’s government is characterised by dictatorship, discrimination and marginalisation, deception and deplorable conduct such as destruction of citizens property, illegal expropriation of private property, arbitrary arrests and detentions, depriving children of poor citizens of access to university education and forceful implementation of ill-conceived educational reforms without any public consultation.

3.There is no doubt that unless the system of Rwanda changes, it will yet again lead the Rwanda nation to catastrophic tragedy.

The two organisations are of the opinion that the strategies that would help the people of Rwanda to realise the system of Government of Rwanda to which they aspire include the following:

2.To establish a genuinely democratic system of government, based on plurality of political parties;

3.To establish a system of independent and impartial administration of justice, eradicating impunity once and for all. An independent and impartial system of administration of justice is an indispensable system of administration of justice.

4.To prepare a national dialogue bringing together Rwandans of all backgrounds and political persuasions to discuss a peaceful future of Rwanda.

5.To build a Rwanda in which discrimination and marginalisation of any kind have no place, assuring every citizen access to equal opportunity.

6.To promote gender equality.

7.To definitively resolve the chronic problem of Rwandan refugees.

8.To promote genuine reconciliation amongst Rwandan of all backgrounds and to repair the psychological wounds that the conflict Rwanda has experienced have left.

9.To promote equitable and inclusive development

10.To assure the security of all citizens by ensuring that security sector institutions work for the benefit of citizens instead of serving the personal interests of individual or group of individuals.

11.To stop, once and for all, the habit of continually waging war and aggression against neighboring states and to build sustainable security and peace.

The two parties agreed on the following matters:

1.The two organisations support political change in Rwanda by peaceful means.

2.The two organisations resolved to establish a common coordination mechanism to facilitate their collaboration in mobilising the people of Rwanda for democratic change.

3.The organisations agreed to sensitise other organisations that are struggling for peaceful democratic change to join them in working together to promote that objective.

4.The FDU-Inkingi and the RNC have decided to implement above strategies to achieve the objective of peaceful democratic change.

Further:

The participants in the meeting reiterated their appreciation of the courage and sacrifice of Madame Victoire Ingabire in the struggle for democracy in Rwanda, and against demand that President Kagame release her from detention without pre-conditions. The participants equally demand that all other political prisoners, including Bernard Ntaganda, President of PS-Imberakuri; Déo Mushayidi (President, PDP Imanzi); Dr. Théoneste Niyitegeka and Charles Ntakirutinka. All the above political prisoners must be have unrestricted freedom to continue their political activities in their motherland.

The participants in the meeting deplore the manner in which the government continues to use judicial institutions to eliminate political dissent, criticism, and opposition, The participants, in particular, condemned the parody of justice conducted by the Rwanda Military High Court that led to its judgement of 14 January 2011 against General Kayumba Nyamwasa, Dr. Théogène Rudasingwa, Colonel Karegeya Patrick and Dr. Gerald Gahima, whose objective is to persecute and defame the said individuals on account of their political views.

The participants in the meeting demanded that the Government of Rwanda cease the persecution of journalists and clergy, including Fr. Emile Nsengiyumva.

The meeting also condemned the Rwanda Government’s continued use of members of FDRL to fabricate and peddle allegations against opponents of the regime. It is most surprising to observe how these armed insurgents that are collaborating with the authorities are given free reign to defame and spread lies against persons who have no connection with the FDRL organisation.

The meeting agreed that all possible precautions ought to be taken to prevent the recurrence of genocide, crimes against humanity and any other policies that deprive Rwandan citizens of their lives or otherwise violate fundamental human rights.

Concerning the United Nations report on the Mapping Exercise on atrocities that were committed against Rwandan refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the meetings calls for an end to activities intended to minimise the significance of the report.

The participants in the meetings encourage all Rwandans to rise, to overcome fear and to understand that the struggle to liberate their motherland is their responsibility.

We request foreign governments and international organizations to more strongly support democratic change in Rwanda.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Followinga meeting that was held in Brussels (Belgium) on 19 December 2010 , representatives of the Support Committee of FDU-Inkingi, upon authorisation by the said party, held a retreat with representatives of the Rwanda National Congress (RNC) in Switzerlandfrom the 21 to 25 January 2011. The purpose of the retreat was to hold consultations on the nature of the critical problems that confront the Rwanda nation today and exchanging ideas as to how the two organisations can harness their collective resources to find appropriate solution to these problems.

The following persons attended the retreat on behalf of the two organisations:

Following the above mentioned consultations on the above issues, the two organisations agreed as follows:

1.Our vision of the Rwanda that the people of Rwanda deserve is a democratic state, that is governed in accordance with the principles of the rule of law, independence of the judiciary, respect of the inherent dignity of every citizen, equality and non-discrimination and promotion of reconciliation, solidarity and mutual respect amongst all Rwandans. The successive governments that have ruled Rwanda since the 1959 Revolution have proclaimed ,in their official documents and statements their commitment to the above principles and values, but the changes they brought about only resulted in change of the outward form, rather than the nature or character, of government.

2.The current system of Rwanda’s government is characterised by dictatorship, discrimination and marginalisation, deception and deplorable conduct such as destruction of citizens property, illegal expropriation of private property, arbitrary arrests and detentions, depriving children of poor citizens of access to university education and forceful implementation of ill-conceived educational reforms without any public consultation.

3.There is no doubt that unless the system of Rwanda changes, it will yet again lead the Rwanda nation to catastrophic tragedy.

The two organisations are of the opinion that the strategies that would help the people of Rwanda to realise the system of Government of Rwanda to which they aspire include the following:

2.To establish a genuinely democratic system of government, based on plurality of political parties;

3.To establish a system of independent and impartial administration of justice, eradicating impunity once and for all. An independent and impartial system of administration of justice is an indispensable system of administration of justice.

4.To prepare a national dialogue bringing together Rwandans of all backgrounds and political persuasions to discuss a peaceful future of Rwanda.

5.To build a Rwanda in which discrimination and marginalisation of any kind have no place, assuring every citizen access to equal opportunity.

6.To promote gender equality.

7.To definitively resolve the chronic problem of Rwandan refugees.

8.To promote genuine reconciliation amongst Rwandan of all backgrounds and to repair the psychological wounds that the conflict Rwanda has experienced have left.

9.To promote equitable and inclusive development

10.To assure the security of all citizens by ensuring that security sector institutions work for the benefit of citizens instead of serving the personal interests of individual or group of individuals.

11.To stop, once and for all, the habit of continually waging war and aggression against neighboring states and to build sustainable security and peace.

The two parties agreed on the following matters:

1.The two organisations support political change in Rwanda by peaceful means.

2.The two organisations resolved to establish a common coordination mechanism to facilitate their collaboration in mobilising the people of Rwanda for democratic change.

3.The organisations agreed to sensitise other organisations that are struggling for peaceful democratic change to join them in working together to promote that objective.

4.The FDU-Inkingi and the RNC have decided to implement above strategies to achieve the objective of peaceful democratic change.

Further:

The participants in the meeting reiterated their appreciation of the courage andsacrifice of Madame Victoire Ingabire in the struggle for democracy in Rwanda, and against demand that President Kagame release her from detention without pre-conditions. The participants equally demand that all other political prisoners, including Bernard Ntaganda, President of PS-Imberakuri; Déo Mushayidi (President, PDP Imanzi); Dr. Théoneste Niyitegeka and Charles Ntakirutinka.All the above political prisoners must be have unrestricted freedom to continue their political activities in their motherland.

The participants in the meeting deplore the manner in which the government continues to use judicial institutions to eliminate political dissent, criticism, and opposition, The participants, in particular, condemned the parody of justice conducted by the Rwanda Military High Court that led to its judgement of 14 January 2011 against General Kayumba Nyamwasa, Dr. Théogène Rudasingwa, Colonel Karegeya Patrick and Dr. Gerald Gahima, whose objective is to persecute and defame the said individuals on account of their political views.

The participants in the meeting demanded that the Government of Rwanda cease the persecution of journalists and clergy, including Fr. Emile Nsengiyumva.

The meeting also condemned the Rwanda Government’s continued use of members of FDRL to fabricate and peddle allegations against opponents of the regime. It is most surprising to observe how these armed insurgents that are collaborating with the authorities are given free reign to defame and spread lies against persons who have no connection with the FDRL organisation.

The meeting agreed that all possible precautions ought to be taken to prevent the recurrence of genocide, crimes against humanity and any other policies that deprive Rwandan citizens of their lives or otherwise violate fundamental human rights.

Concerning the United Nations report on the Mapping Exercise on atrocities that were committed against Rwandan refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the meetings calls for an end to activities intended to minimise the significance of the report.

The participants in the meetings encourage all Rwandans to rise, to overcome fear and to understand that the struggle to liberate their motherland is their responsibility.

We request foreign governments and international organizations to more strongly support democratic change in Rwanda.

Rwanda’s president threatens ‘useless characters’ and nations that offer them support

The four men were once members of the Rwandan president’s inner circle. Now they’ve fled the country and say they fear for their lives even in exile as he steps up efforts to silence their criticism.

A man shows a poster of Rwandan President Paul Kagame to protest against his visit in Brussels last month. Four men who were once members of Mr. Kagame‘s inner circle have now fled the country. They say they fear for their lives even in exile as Mr. Kagame steps up efforts to silence their criticism. (Associated Press)

A Rwandan court convicted them in absentia and sentenced them to at least 20 years in prison each if they return home. One also has survived what he believes is an assassination attempt near his home in South Africa, though Rwanda denies any involvement.
President Paul Kagame’s former attorney general, intelligence chief, army chief and chief of staff all were convicted earlier this month by a Rwandan military court of disturbing public order, threatening state security, sectarianism and criminal conspiracy.
The men once loyal to Mr. Kagame now accuse him of threatening both democracy in their homeland and stability across Africa.
In a recent speech to his parliament, Mr. Kagame called his four former allies “useless characters” and had a warning for nations that lend them support: “If you live in a grass-thatched house, you should avoid playing with fire because your own house may catch fire.”
Mr. Kagame is renowned for his role in helping to end the 1994 genocide during which extremist Hutus killed more than 500,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. But his democratic credentials have been questioned, as has his ability to heal his nation’s ethnic divide.
He was re-elected last year after opposition parties were banned from the vote, and some Rwandans said they were forced to cast ballots for him. Freedom House noted a “severe crackdown on opposition politicians, journalists and civil society activists in the run-up to a deeply flawed August 2010 presidential election.”
Last week, Rwandan police said they had asked Interpol member states to arrest the four dissidents and send them home to serve prison sentences. Interpol said that Rwanda had issued the request on its own, not through the international agency’s secretariat.
Former army chief Gen. Kayumba Nyamwasa and ex-chief of staff Theogene Rudasingwa were sentenced to 24 years each. Former attorney general Gerald Gahima and intelligence chief Patrick Karegeya were handed 20-year sentences.“Everybody knows it’s a hoax,” Mr. Karegeya said, accusing Rwanda’s president of orchestrating the trial.
Two of the men are in exile in the United States; the other two are in South Africa.
Clayson Monyela, spokesman for South Africa’s foreign affairs department, said his government would have no comment on whether the country would comply with Rwanda’s extradition request.
Relations between the two countries already have been tense as South Africa investigates a shooting that wounded one of the four ex-aides last year in Johannesburg. At one point, South Africa went so far as to recall its ambassador to Rwanda, and it remains unclear whether the diplomat has returned.
South African prosecutors have refused to say whether they believe the Rwandan government was involved in the June attempt on Gen. Nyamwasa’s life. Rwandan officials vehemently deny any role, while his supporters hold Mr. Kagame’s government responsible.
The dissidents say they expect South Africa and the U.S. to continue granting them a haven. Their real fear, they say, is not extradition, but an attack by Mr. Kagame’s agents.“It’s a very real risk,” Mr. Gahima said.
Authorities in South Africa say the plot against Gen. Nyamwasa involved 10 suspects from several African countries. Authorities believe it was masterminded by the one Rwandan citizen among the suspects.
After the shooting failed to kill Gen. Nyamwasa, authorities say the suspects then plotted to strangle Mr. Nyamwasa in his hospital bed. The trial is set to begin in July.
Gen. Nyamwasa has kept a low profile since being wounded in the attack. Several months later, Spain announced it was seeking his extradition on genocide charges that he denies.

Gen. Nyamwasa and other senior Tutsis are accused of waging an extermination campaign against Hutus in retaliation for the 1994 genocide, killing tens of thousands.
Under Spain’s broad human rights laws, a Spanish judge has charged Gen. Nyamwasa and 39 other members of the Rwandan military with the mass killings of civilians after they seized power in Rwanda after the genocide.
The dissidents deny their opposition to Mr. Kagame springs from personal ambition. And Mr. Kagame’s former chief of staff said it was fair to ask why Rwandans should now trust former Kagame allies.“We come to them honestly and admitting honestly some of the things we didn’t do that we should have done,” Mr. Rudasingwa said. “In life, there’s always a second chance.”
In the mid-1990s, Mr. Rudasingwa was Mr. Kagame’s envoy to the United States, where he denounced criticism of Rwanda by international human rights groups.
Even when he knew Rwanda had invaded Congo pursuing Rwandans accused in the genocide, “I used to go to the State Department and say fervently, I would even get angry, that we weren’t in the Congo,” Mr. Rudasingwa said.
He said he began to become disillusioned with Mr. Kagame in the late 1990s, but feared arrest or worse. He went on to become Mr. Kagame’s chief of staff. Mr. Rudasingwa left Rwanda in 2004, returned briefly, then left for good in 2005.
Five years later, the four ex-Kagame aides in exile established the Rwanda National Congress, which they say is dedicated to pursuing peaceful political change. They accuse Mr. Kagame’s government of refusing to embrace democracy and respect human rights, and say that could lead to more violence.
Past Rwandan conflicts have spread throughout the Great Lakes region and sent refugees fleeing across Africa.
Mr. Gahima, Rwanda’s former attorney general, said the criminal convictions and attempts to extradite them had only strengthened the exiles’ resolve to bring about change in their homeland.
But “I don’t think we should be under the illusion that Kagame is going to easily give up power,” he said. “We have a long and hard road ahead of us.